Physical Appearance
1 . Youthful appearance: to look young
Example: People always compliment on her youthful appearance.
2. Look young for your age: to look younger for your age
Example: Her style of wearing makes her to look young for her age.
3. To be getting on a bit: to be getting old
Example: Recently, my parents have been getting on a bit.
4. To bear a striking resemblance to somebody: to look very similar
Example: Everyone often says that I bear a striking resemblance to my father, which I proud of
5. To be good-looking: to be attractive
Example: She is the one I have a crush on who is really beautiful.
6. To be well-built: to be muscular
Example: He has been working out for years and is well-built.
7. To be well-turned out: to look smart
Example: The guy wearing glasses and a yellow T-shirt is well-turned out.
8. To be overweight: to weigh more than is regarded as healthy
Example: Overusing fast food can cause to some health problems, such as being overweight.
9. Shoulder-length hair: hair that comes down to the shoulders and no further
Example: She has shoulder-length hair and a bright smile.
10. To lose one’s figure: to have a figure that has lost its toned shape
Example: Because she overate fast food recently, she has lost her figure.
11. To get done up: to dress smartly
Example: Whenever she shows up in the public, she always gets done up.
Personality
1 . To be the life and soul of the party: a fun person, someone who is the center of activity
Example: He has always been the life and soul of every party he participated in.
2. To hide one’s light under a bushel: to hide one’s talents and skills
Example: I must say that she is the type of person hiding her light under a bushel.
3. To lose one’s temper: to suddenly become angry
Example: Please leave before I lose my temper.
4. Good sense of humor: the ability to understand what is funny
Example: If the guy has a good sense of humor, he is always the party’s life and soul.
5. Trustworthy: someone who can be trusted
Example: I have known her for many years, so I must say that she is a trustworthy person.
6. Self-confident: someone who believes in one’s ability or knowledge
Example: My sister is self-confident and she always believes in herself even when she has to
speak in front of lots of people.
7. Self-assured: someone who is confident
Example: I want to teach my children to be self-assured from early ages.
8. Introverted: Someone who is shy
Example: In my opinion, people who is introverted cannot be a good leader.
9. Extroverted: having a confident character and enjoying the company of other people
Example: She is extroverted, and she likes to interact with other people.
10. Easy-going: relaxed and not easily worried about anything
Example: She is easygoing, and she never loses her temper.
11. To bend over backward: to try very hard to help someone
Example: Peter has always bent over backward to help me out whenever I am in trouble.
12. Big cheese: an important person
Example: He left business school and became a big cheese in the City.
13. Sharp cookie: An intelligent person who is difficult to fool
Example: She’s a sharp cookie and will have no trouble seeing a sales pitch for what it is.
14. Tough cookie: a mentally or physically strong person
Example: Don’t worry about her—she’s a tough cookie.
15. Go-getter: a very ambitious person
Example: We only recruit go-getters who will be actively involved in the company’s
development.
16. Social butterfly: sociable and likes to spend time with people
Example: Tom’s always been something of a social butterfly, so we’ve never really worried
about him making friends or finding his way in the world.
17. Dark horse: a secretive person, often with a hidden talent
Example: Anna’s such a dark horse – I had no idea she’d published a novel.
18. Bookworm: A person who loves to read
19. Book smart: having a lot of academic knowledge learned from books and studying but not
necessarily knowing much about people and living in the real world.
Example: This is one satisfactory aspect of the continuation classes, but it is not everybody who
is a bookworm.
20. Street smart: intelligence gained outside of school in the real world
Example: She is street-smart and a skilled mechanic and driver, using her skills as one of the
drivers in hijackings.
21. Common sense: the ability to think about things practically and make sensible decisions
Example: Windsurfing is perfectly safe as long as you have/use some common sense.
22. Night owl: a person who goes to bed late and wakes up late
Example: My wife’s a night owl, but I like to be in bed by 10 o’clock.
23. Early bird: a person who goes to bed early and wakes up early
Example: She isn’t an early bird by nature, but she’s been up before dawn every day for the past
month.
IELTS Speaking Vocabulary: Town and City
Describing Cities in IELTS Speaking
When describing cities in IELTS Speaking, you may want to talk about the following,
Location / Size
History
Industry
Interesting places
Weather
Here are some useful phrases to talk about some these different aspects.
Industry
If asked about the products that are produced in your city, or what kind of work people do there,
you can talk about different kinds of industries, as below…
Primary industries (dealing with raw materials)
Agriculture
Mining
Farming
Fishing
Oil and Gas
The manufacturing industry
The service industry
Tourism
Hospitality
Recreation
Food and beverage
The finance industry
The IT industry
The entertainment industry
My hometown relies mainly on tourism / the service industry
It’s famous for tourism/ the service industry
Its main source of revenue comes from tourism/ the service industry
The economy depends mainly on tourism/ the service industry
Collocations to Describe Cities
Here are some collocations to describe the city where I live, Santander, in Spain.
Bustling center
Urban living
Reliable public transport
Long opening hours (shops and restaurants)
Upmarket shops
Pricey /overpriced restaurants(expensive)
Lively bars
Fashionable clubs
High-rise flats
Adjectives to Describe Cities
For good points of cities you could use the following adjectives:
picturesque
historic
spacious
elegant
magnificent
lively
The comfortable suburbs (the suburb is just outside the city center)
For the negative points of cities you could use the following adjectives:
deserted( no one on the street at night) city
packed (very crowded)
filthy (very dirty)/
run-down ( in a very bad condition)
sprawling city
a shanty town (=houses made of discarded materials, e.g.tin cardboard, plastic)
Bustling (=with lots of movement) can be positive or negative
Cities and Their Problems
Urban wasteland (in bad condition)
No-go areas (with the high crime)
Run-down buildings (falling apart)
Deprived areas (without necessary things, e.g. enough money, good living conditions)
1. Bumper-to-bumper traffic all day long
2. The volume of traffic (amount)
3. Exhaust fumes
4. The incessant roar of trucks and buses (very loud noise)
Describe The City Where You Live
Here is a description of the city where I peresently live: Santander, in Spain.
It has rather dreary weather = dull weather
Mild climate = not hot or cold
Overcast (adj).= cloudy
As for the weather, it’s often overcast in my city.
The city looks over the bay
Holiday-makers = people on holiday
People like to nibble snacks in the bars = to eat in small bites (usually snacks)
Local people love going for a stroll in the afternoon = go for a short walk
Big attraction = popular attraction
There is a lot of heavy rain
It often throws it down = it often rains heavily
